


Special friends

by Tiredteengaer



Series: Dick Grayson is baby [8]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Dick Grayson Whump, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, Dick Grayson is a Talon, Dick grayson is very loved and a traumatised child with a heart of gold, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Pets, Protective Batfamily (DCU), Protective Older Brothers, Reverse Robins, brotherly shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 02:40:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30082221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiredteengaer/pseuds/Tiredteengaer
Summary: Three times Talon had to hide his furry little friend from his new family and the three times kitty was discovered by the others.ORDick has a secret pet and his family hasnoclue! Same as he has no clue how to actually function as a free human rather then an enslaved Talon.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Series: Dick Grayson is baby [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761397
Comments: 6
Kudos: 215





	Special friends

The collection started in subtle manner, low-key enough to slip under the family's noses.

Talon had no key or rhythm to his hoardings. He had been confused by the complete flip in his life when he'd been brought into this large house, and he still was. His masters here were nothing like the court. For one, they didn't like it when he knelt for them or hurt himself. Unlike the owl masters, they did not seem to derive pleasure or satisfaction at seeing Talon hurt.

The heirarchy didn't make sense either. Talon had tried to make heads and tails of who exactly he was suppose to serve over all others but it seemed that the inhabitants themselves were confused as to whose orders to follow. Batman had seemed like the obvious choice, he had been the one to command that Talon was not to practice any of his training anymore and had forbidden him from referring to anyone as 'master' or himself as 'Talon'. The others seemed to follow his orders but Talon had been confused to see that they often argued and openly disrespected him. That must mean that he was not that high in the ranks, right? The only person who did not seem to receive any firm of backlash if arguments was the old man who wore a suit everyday but he referred to everyone as 'Master', even the youngest Wayne. 

They didn't make sense. But Talon had figured out that they seemed to like when he expressed his opinions and an interest in.... _anything_ really. Talon had not been punished or humiliated for anything, not even for wearing and developing a fondness for animal pyjamas, which would have been considered well below him in the court, having likes and dislikes was too human.

In fact, that was probably where it all began. Once Ma- Bruce had realised that Dick liked his panda pyjamas, he had gone out on a limb and brought him about dozens of different animal pyjamas. His favourite currently was the ones with the flamingos.

He liked having belongings. The only belongings he'd had in the court was his uniform, his weapons and his coffin and he hadn't been fond of any of those. 

Tim had off-handedly suggested that Dick had never really grown out of the mindset of a eight year old, seeing as he'd remained frozen for four years before the court had finally put him in use. He claimed that kids nearing the end of their childhood had a habit of hoarding, it was a common phase of growing up and trying to cling to the last of their childhood.

Talon liked Tim. The rest of the family were a little wary of the second oldest of the family, something about how he'd tried to kill the rest of the family after coming back to life. Talon didn't understand the discrimination, he hadn't been overly friendly with the family when he first met them. He'd tried to slit Bruce's and Damian's throat when they'd tried to bring him back to the manor with them and they didn't seem to hold a grudge.

But Talon had come to really like the family. They were nice and _fun,_ and Talon was afraid of this new life being ripped away from him so he gathered as many memoirs as he could.

Just in case.

Tim didn't seem to notice that his bullets had gone missing. Or his cigarettes. He never took enough to actually grab his attention but over the course of six months, he'd managed to stash twenty seven silver bullets and fourteen cigarettes under his bed. They were useless really, but it made Talon happy.

He'd collected ornaments from every member of the family. Some broken sharpeners and almost finished rubbers from Damian's art rooms, Jason's broken toy figures, lone prices of Bruce's socks and empty pages from Alfred's diary.

His newest collection purred deeply and Talon looked down and smiled at the furred creature that was rubbing her precious head against his jeans. He reached down to scratch it, and the furred baby lifted it's little head to boop it against his calf.

It meowed in pleasure and Talon's face dropped, leaning closer to it and shushing it urgently. Masters were very kind to him and never got upset with him, no matter how childishly Talon acted, but he didn't want to risk it. He'd bought in an unknown allie into the headquarters, that could not possibly be accepted well.

He was going out on a limb by smuggling the kitten in to the house. Talon would never dream of rebelling so hard in the past but kitty was so cute. He couldn't leave her all alone in the cold wet bushes. He just hoped that the older man who handled the edibles in the headquarters would not notice that Talon had been sneaking out extra bottles of milk out the fridge to feed kitten. 

He crept to the night stand and opened the bottom drawer, grimacing and shushing the drawer as the milk sloshed around. He reached under his bed and popped the top of a new milk bottle open, pouring it in the drawer before lowly clicking his tongue to lure kitty to the drawer. She rubbed her head against his arm as a thank you before hopping in to her hind legs and leaning into the drawer to lap at the white beverage.

Talon crossed his legs as he watched her, scratching her back and smiling affectionately. Kitten was the best part of his new life. She was sweet and affectionate and didn't confuse him. The rest had a weird ring to them. Talon had often heard them interact with each other in raised angry voices but whenever they spoke to him, they were soft and gentle. There were a lot of weird rules here, such as them not wanting him to be kneeling when any of them walk in, encouraged him to talk out of turn or to punish himself when he messed up.

Kitten wasn't confusing. She curled into a ball on his lap to sleep, she rolled on to her back to play with him when she was bored and the conversations weren't that confusing, though he never really understood what she was trying to say.

He ran his fingers through her fluffy brown and grey fur as he leant against the headboard, reaching for the discarded remote next to his pillow. He turned the TV on and relaxed as the loud happy music blared out of the device. Damian had said that he was too old to watch 'cartoons' but Talon quite enjoyed them. They were the exact opposite visualization compared to the court.

He watched the purple haired girl tell off her brother, rocket power, Jason had told him, and their shenanigans for almost twenty minutes before kitten suddenly perked up and turned her head to stare at his closed door. He glanced at her before making a surprised sound as his friend suddenly hopped off his lap and rushed to his slightly ajar bathroom door, slipping in discreetly.

And not a moment too soon. A knock reverted through the room before his door was nudged open and Mast- Bruce peeked in. Talon was proud to report that after weeks of living here, he no longer flinched or shot up to stand at attention at the sight of them. Now, he just sat straighter and lowered the volume of the cartoon, so as to be respectful.

The man smiled at him softly, opening the door all the way. 'Hey, chum. Mind if I come in?'

Talon shook his head, unable to stop himself from stiffening just a bit as Bruce walked over to sit right next to him. 'I'm glad to see you enjoying the TV. I was worried you'd just be staring at the wall again.' 

He hadn't done that in a while. Or at least, until he'd gotten kitty. He did really appreciated the extra equipments and toys that the others had provided for him to help pass the time. He was unsure of how to function when the day was not preoccupied with painful experiments and training.

He smiled, knowing that they liked it when he did that, and hoping it would convey his gratitude. Like he'd known, Bruce's eyes crinkled as a soft smile graced his features at the sight.

He lifted his hand to gently palm through Talons hair and he felt himself leaning forward in to the touch, very fond of the gentle pats. No wonder kitty liked it so much when he did that.

Speaking of kitty...he cast an anxious glance at his half open bathroom door. Kitty was well hidden. Good, he didn't need Bruce spotting her and making her leave. Talon liked her.

'Dick? Are you listening?'

Talon snapped his attention back to the man in front of him, shying away at the displeased look on his face. Immediately, the express morphed into a gentle one again. 

Talon swallowed and quietly said, 'Yes, baba.'

Bruce smile grew even larger and he gently twisted long strands of Talons hair between his fingers. He had figured out a while ago by eavesdropping that the old version of him used to refer to the man as _Baba,_ a habit he'd picked up from Damian when he was feeling affectionate. It was an affectionate term for _Abu,_ the arabic and the urdu word for father.

'I'm glad you're having fun, but Alfred told me that you skipped both lunch and breakfast today. You shouldn't be staying hungry. So how about you come with me and try to eat something, hmm? Alfred made onion soup and fresh bread. You'd really like it.'

Talon nodded slowly, knowing it wasn't really a choice. 'Okay baba.' 

Bruce squeezed the nape of his neck and began to get up, missing Talon's widening eyes as he spotted kitty's gleaming blue eyes shining in the dark as she opened her mouth to meow. 

He couldn't let Bruce see her. He was batman, there was no way he'd miss her.

Letting out a strangled noise, he stumbled to his knees before launching himself at the older man, wrapping his arms around his shoulders before he could stop himself. The sudden unexpected action caused Bruce to freeze and stiffen, just long enough to make talon panic and think he'd overstepped, he had messed up, he was going to be punished and whipped-

Large muscular arms gently gripped his ribs and he was lifted up with the barest of ease, before Bruce sat him easily in the crook of his left elbow, gently tucking the boy close to him and pressing his large palm between his shoulders.

'Okay?' The man asked him, and Talon was unable to stop himself from resting his side temple against the man's shoulder. 

He nodded, feeling oddly at ease. The man was surprisingly warm and comfortable and his large body mass made him feel safe. Talon liked feeling safe. 

He saw kitty from the side of his eye staring at them curiously from the bathroom. He felt bad. He didn't mean to leave kitten out, but it was for her own safety. He didn't want to have her thrown out. He perked his chin on Bruce's shoulder to smile at her reassuringly and lifting his hand to shush her silently. 

'Let's go get some food, okay? I don't like leaving Damian and Jason alone for too long and the dining rooms has too many potential weapons.'

He made sure to shake his head around to obsecure Bruce's vision as he was carried out and spotted kitty prancing out from the bathroom as they left.

Smart baby. He'd make sure to sneak in some bread for her later.

•

Talon had messed up.

Actually no, kitty had screwed up. He should have known not to let her out of his room but she'd been getting desperate and bored from being cooped up in one room. He should have known that the feline would not appreciate being stuck in the same square space, she was an outdoor cat after all.

No one was home. It was the first time he'd been left alone since his return from the court, and he'd managed to make them leave after many reassurances that he'd be good. 

And now be was going to get in trouble. No one, not even Bruce, was allowed in Damian's private space and Talon knew that! He really had no intention of breaking the rule, but kitty had slipped away from him and had gotten in and-

He heard the front door open and he quickly snatched kitten up, because even if he was terrified of being punished, he was not a coward. They'd made it clear that Talon would stay within the manor, no matter what he did. That didn't exclude punishments but at least he _knew_ that he would still be around. Kitty didn't have the same luxury! He had to protect her!

He hurried to his room, heart pounding in his ears as voices drifted over to him. He quickly shooed the kitten into his toy teepee that Tim and Jason had helped him put up in his room and sat down heavily, biting his lip as he heard Damian yell angrily. Tears welled up in his eyes and he twisted his pale hands in his sweat shirt, listening to Damian's angry outburst.

'What the hell?!? Who got in here?!? Drake, I swear to God, if this is your idea of another temper tantrum-'

'Chill out, ass-hat. I just entered with you, I don't have super speed.'

'This is not the first time that you have pulled a stunt like this! I have come back from patrol many times to see my belongings messed around by you as a pure excuse of a prank!'

'Are you fucking deaf?!? I didn't do it, go pester Jason. And my pranks are much better then toppling over your paints and canvases.'

'Then who-'

Talon swallowed, gently pushing kitty's head back in to the toupee. Damian was seriously mad, he couldn't risk him discovering his friend and throwing her out.

But he also couldn't sit here and listen to Damian yell at Tim. The two were almost equally matched in combat and skills and he knew that despite their bickering and fights, they cared about each other. They'd been a part of this clan much longer then he was. Tim might be able to take care of himself but Damian could still hurt him.

But he couldn't let that happen. He might be be invasive but he had enough of a moral compass installed into him to know that it was wrong to let others take punishment for your wrong doings.

He took a staggering breath, unable to stop the fear from piercing through his heart. He hadn't had a punishment for so long and out of all the family, Damian was the scariest and the toughest. Who knew what his first punishment in the house would be like? Would Damian whip him? Electrocute him? He hoped he didn't freeze him, Talon despised that particular punishment the most.

He forced his feet to carry him into the hall, even though all he wanted to do was curl up under his blanket and hide till the scary things passed. 

But he had to do this for kitty. If Damian eventually did believe Tim, they would start investigating of who the real culprit was and then Kitty would be found and thrown out. He had to protect her.

Both men grew silent as Talon crept into their line of vision, though Damian still looked ruffled and angry. Talon tried not to think about how their glowy green eyes reminded him of a particular owl from the court when they were punishing him. He curled his hands tighter in to his shirt to prevent then from shaking.

'Dick? You okay? Did we wake you?' Tim asked, stepping away from Damian as his eyes looked him up and down in worry. 

He shook his head. Quite the opposite. He counted backwards from ten to zero to calm him down as he lowered himself to his knees, pressing his sweaty hands to the wooden floor and lowering his gaze as he mimicked the punishment position that he'd been taught.

'Richard, what on earth-'

'Kid, get up. We've told you that you don't need to do that here.'

They had. But that was for normal days, not for punishments. You _always_ knelt for punishments.

'Did it.' he choked out, still not used to talking. He usually kept his chats to a minimum, only speaking one or two words at most but he couldn't expect leniency today. 'Did that.'

'What?' 

Talon tried to make it as clear as he could without having to explain it in words. The words felt heavy like lead on his tongue as he spoke. 'Damian's mess. My fault.'

'You did this?' Damian asked, his voice void of any emotion other then surprise. 'Why?'

'I....I was exploring.' Damian ran his hand through his hair and Talon's breath stuttered in fear as he stepped closer. He licked his chapped lips before bursting out, 'I'm sorry.'

He wasn't suppose to beg for mercy of deny his mistakes. He was not suppose to look away when his punisher approached him. He shouldn't show any signs of weaknesses or fears when he was being punished. Open fear was a luxury not attainable for Talons.

It was Tim who approached him and towered over him. Made sense, he would not be happy with being blamed for something he didn't even do. 'Did you get hurt?'

Were they trying to find a way to make it hurt more? 

'No. I...I will take whatever punishment you find suitable.'

The silence that followed was thick and tense and Talon was unsure of what to expect next. Perhaps they were taken aback by the length of his sentence or they were mulling over what punishment to administrate. 

_No freezing. Please no freezing._

'Dick, we're not going to punish you.' 

'-You do not speak for me, Drake.' Damian interrupted coldly and Talon couldn't help the fearful flinch. He kept an ear out for kitty, because if she was found now, he would definitely get punished more. 

'What the fuck, Damian? You're not serious.' 

'I am. Richard, come here.' 

Talon swallowed thickly and forced himself to get to his feet, shakily making his way to stand in front of his oldest brother. He remembered the rules but he couldn't make himself look up, slight tremors running through his body as he stared at his feet.

'Damian-'

'I know what I'm doing, Drake. Trust me.' 

Talon couldn't help but have a fleeting hope that his second brother would refuse to leave, would butt in and save him but he heard a resigned sigh and the sound of foot steps walking away, taking away the last of his hope with him.

Damian nudged his chin with his forefinger and thumb and lifted it so that Talon was staring into his eyes. Talon's toes curled in fear. 

'I have told you many times that you do not have to kneel in front of us. This is not the court.' he commanded, before dropping his chin and squeezing his shoulder as he directed him into the room. 'A punishment is required though.'

Talon bit down on pleas and apologies, straightening his shoulders as he was placed in front of the mess Kitty had made. He had to think of her when he was being punished, it would help him get through the pain-'

-'You shall clean the mess you made yourself. I shall stay here to supervise you. But I shall help you scrub the paint down, alright?' 

Yes. He had to fix the mess before he could be punished for it. It was dragging his punishment along but it was a relief because he had more time to mentally prepare himself. 

He dropped to his knees and gathered the broken canvases, quickly turning the one which had blue cat paws skidered over them. Damian sat on the bed and watched him as he work and training reminded him to never turn his back on an enemy but his potential attacker was also his superior. He had to submit to him, no matter what.

The silence fell heavily on them as Talon worked to clean the mess. He almost burst into tears when he realised how much of the bright red paint had stuck it self to the white carpet. He was going to deeply suffer for that.

_For kitty. This was for kitten._

Once everything was clean, Damian sat next to him with a small bucket of foamy water and two wet clothes, holding it out for the younger to take. Talon eyes him warily, unused to having a superior in the same position as him. When Damian made no sudden movements, he gingerly took the nearest soaked cloth and began scrubbing.

They worked in silence until the white carpet was soaked and almost free from the paint. Damian reached forward to grasp his smaller hand from where he was trying to clean off the left over pink stain and Talon was unable to stop the flinch now. 

'We have done as much as we can. I shall ask father to call professional carpet cleaners. Thank you for helping me, Richard.'

Talon nodded silently as he shakily dropped the cloth back in to the bucket, unsure of what his next course of action should be. Damian had told him not to kneel but he hadn't cleared up what his punishment would be. He kept his head lowered and waited for his next instructions.

'Your punishment is finished. I am proud of you for owning up. And....' the man's hesitation caused Talon to finally look up and meet his oldest brother's eyes. '...my early days were spent with the league of assassins and they too, were very fond of administrating harsh punishments that did not fit the crime. And it took me a long time to get used to the household ways and father's methods of punishing to teach a lesson rather then to just hurt me. Now I don't know why you were in here or how you managed to squeeze into that tiny shelf but as long as you are not hurt, it doesn't matter.'

Talon stared at him, not being able to process this new information. He opened his mouth and closed it and opened it and closed it before finally choking out, 'No punishment?'

'Your punishment was to clean up and you did it. Good job.' the man praised, rising to his full feet and dusted his knees clean off imaginary dirt before helping him up. 'You do not need to hide yourself from us. Any part of yourself.' 

Talon could barely believe it. He could barely believe that this was all the measly punishment was. He couldn't believe that Damian had just accepted his mistake just like that-

-or kitty's mistake. Who was currently curiously pawing at the outdoor carpet. He knew Damian had said that they would accept him no matter what, but he didn't think that stretched to Kitty too.

Damian raised a brow at Talon's lost expression and he began to turn to the door and Talon panicked. Acting yet again without thinking, he threw his arms around his big brother's waist and hugged him tightly. 

Damian froze and Talon had only just began to panic before the man placed his large hand atop his head and wrapped his arm around Talon's thin shoulders.

'Never tell anyone about this.' he ordered gruffly as he hugged him back. Talon nodded into his stomach as he side glared at kitty, who mocking stretched and tilted her head at him. 

She was such trouble.

•

'Why the fuck are there dead fish in our pool?!?' Jason asked incredulously, peering into the water and rubbing his eyes as if to rid a hallucination. Talon gripped the back of his brother's shirt, peering over his shoulder and schooling his face to match his innocence and confusion so as not to raise suspicion.

'How do you know they're dead?' Tim piped up, pulling a disgusted face as he toed at the water, as if doing so would somehow magically cause the fish to come back to life.

'I've been staring at them for ten minutes. They haven't moved once.'

'....what a colorful life you lead, street rat.'

'Shut it, dildo head.' Jason snapped angrily, standing up and pulling Talon away from the edge, pulling his sunglasses back down. 'There goes my swim.'

'What? Why? It's not like they can bite you.'

'Yeah, but that's just disgusting.' 

'You've swam in lakes and aquariums as Robin.'

'But fishes _belong_ there. They don't belong in a chlorine filled pool.'

'That's weird logic.'

'You're weird logic.' Talon smiled and leant against his big brother as he watched kitty prance around the faraway lawn. He had figured out that he could let his friend roam around the garden without raising suspicions and kitty seemed to really appreciate it. The hard part was sneaking her back in, especially when she jumped around in muddy puddles.

At least they hadn't made the connection from the fishes to his furry little friend. 

'Okay, so how we getting those all out? It's too hot to stay away from the pool and this is the _one_ good thing about the manor.' Tim yawned, walking to the pool shed to pull out the pool cleaning net. Jason groaned at the sight of it, having been subjected to using it to clean the pool after a heavy thunderstorm as punishment many times. 'How many are down there? Two? Three?'

'I counted two.' 

'There're four.' Talon piped up, freezing when he realised what he'd done. Oh god, he hadn't meant to reveal that, he had let his guard down too much, he would have never made the amateur mistake of getting too comfortable and letting secret information slip out-

'Dickie? Why do you know that?' Tim asked slowly, amusement laced in his tone. Talon shuffled his feet and his eyes darted to kitty, who was rolling in the grass without a care in the world. 

Tim nudged his arms and crouched down so that he was staring up at him and leaving Talon unable to avoid his gaze. 'Did you put the fishes in the pool, kid?' 

'Um...'

To his surprise, Tim _laughed._ Even Jason seemed spooked by the motion, not use to seeing the grumpy homicidal older brother so joyous. 

'Do I wanna know why?' Tim asked, and added in an undertone when Talon continued looking nervous. 'I'm not mad at you, don't look so scared.'

With that reassurance, Talon manged to relax but was still unable to explain it without giving Kitty's existence away. She seemed to be getting sick of drinking the milk that had started to smell in his drawer and she barely ever ate the tidbits of snacks he brought back for her from dinner. But then he'd saw a similar cat in a cartoon chowing down on fish and that had given him an idea. He'd managed to sneak some fishes out of Alfred's stash and had done the same as the boy in the cartoon. He'd propelled some of the fishes into the pool but they hadn't popped back into life. Kitty had had to settle for eating a dead fish instead of catching a live one and chowing down on it.

Kitty hadn't seemed to mind. But he hadn't had time to dive into the pool and retrieve the dead fishes before Jason had spotted them. 

'Dickie?'

'Um...cartoons.'

'Cartoons?' Jason asked in confusion, glancing at Tim when he snorted again.

'I'm guessing he saw a cartoon where a fish unrealistically came back to life after being dropped into the water.' Tim interjected, his lips pulled into a smirk. 'That right, Little D?'

Technically, it was. His big brother just hadn't solved the latter part. He nodded in agreement.

'Wow....'

'Yeah. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not how real life actually works out. Those fishes are _dead dead.'_

Dick shrugged, not overly upset by that. As long as Kitty was healthy and well fed, he didn't have anything to complain about.

'Mystery solved. Let's leave that crap for Bruce to deal with.'

'Tim, we can clean that up-' 

'Then you do it. I've got stuff to do. Don't I, Dick?' the man didn't wait for an answer before he scooped the twelve year old up and threw him over his shoulder, running in to the house and leaving Jason behind as he yelled after him. Talon spotted his kitty peering after their running figures in confusion and he smiled and waved at her, silently reassuring her that he wasn't abandoning her. 

He'd have to open the window for her later. For now, he could enjoy Tim's company. It wasn't often the man came to visit, after all.

•

Talon giggled as he wiggled the stretchy jelly like toy that Bruce and Jason had brought for him, eyes twinkling as Kitty rolled on to her back, batting at the obnoxiously bright magenta toy. He pulled it out of her reach and dropped it when she mewled in dismay at having her toy being pulled away.

He tucked himself closer in to the corner of his father's room, pressing his shoulder against the wooden chest of drawers and the wallpapered wall. He'd been shooed out of his room an hour or so ago by Alfred and Bruce so that they could clear out his room. Turns out that leaving open milk in a warm damp closed place leads to it spoiling and rotting up the entire room with a horrid smell. 

The only good thing was that kitty seemed to like Bruce's carpet more then his. Might be because she's scratched all the fluffiness out of his own days ago. 

Kitty finally managed to snag the toy in her paws and bit down on it, causing the rubber to squish and let out an annoying squeak. Talon's brows raised high and he glanced nervously at the door to see if they'd attracted someones attention.

He heard soft footsteps and he hissed under his breath, quickly snatching his friend up and looking around for a hiding spot. Before he could find a suitable place, someone knocked and he panicked as he quickly stashed her under his overly large shirt, just as the door open to reveal Jason.

'Hey.' he sighed, flopping on to Bruce's large bed as he stared at the boy. Talon crossed his arms nervously, trying to hide the squirming bulge popping out from underneath his shirt. 'What you up to kiddo?'

He shrugged, turning around so that his back was pressed to the wall now and nudged kitty to the left and as far away from Jason's eyes as possible. 

'Any solid reason why you were pouring milk into your drawer?'

Kitty seemed to have found his nipple and he huffed as she pawed at it. He squirmed at the ticklish feeling and pulled her away under the pretense of pulling his shirt away.

'So....just another of your little quirks?'

He opened his mouth and froze as a meow came from under his shirt. Jason paused between cracking his neck and narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. 'What was that?'

'Outside.' he croaked out, desperately trying to shush the kitty by pressing her down slightly. All that earned was another displeased meowl before Kitty stupidly stuck her little head out of the neck of his shirt. Her furry head and ears tickled his chin and he grunted as Jason shot to his feet, eyes wide and mouth agape.

'Holy shit-'

'Kitty.' he hissed at the feline, arching his neck back as she stood on his chest and crawled out. 'Go back.'

She completely disregarded his order and gave him a very unimpressed look as she climbed atop his shoulder before hopping down, stalking over to the other boy, checking him suspiciously. 

'What the fuck?!? Tim was _right?!?'_ Talon flinched at the angry tone, heart in his throat as his situation stuck in. He'd just been caught red handed with his secret friend, right after he'd managed to stink up the house and wasted their food. 

He was done. There was no way they would let him get away with this.

Kitty had seemed to taken a liking to Jason and was now rubbing her head against his jeans. He didn't know what to do, he had to grab her and run away, he had to make a plan-

'Can't fucking believe Timbers was right, I owe him fifty bucks now. At least your kitty is cute.'

'Jason....I'm sorry-'

'Why? I'm not mad. Kinda miffed that Tim was right but I never like when _anyone_ is right so that's not on you.' he dropped down on his knees and scratched her chin and Talon gripped his knees, digging his nails into it. 'Since when have you had her?'

He considered lying, just in case Jason was lying and was out trying to extract information to figure out the best punishment for him. But....

....they hadn't betrayed him yet. They'd been gentle and all his punishments had been mediocre, not one hand had been raised upon him. 

It was about time to trust Jason.

'Twenty five...'

'Umm....hours?'

'Days.'

'Holy....damn, kiddo. I'm impressed. How'd you manage to keep her a secret for so long.'

'She's my....friend.'

'Cute.' Jason hummed, gently picking her up and bouncing her. 'I'm going to take an educated guess and guess that your drawer is full of milk because that's how you fed her.'

'Yeah...you mad?'

'Feels like I should be, you've been lying to everyone for a while. But this kitten is adorable and I love pulling one up over the family. But....is this a stray cat or a lost pet cat?'

'Umm...'

'Did it have a collar when you found her?'

'Oh. No.'

'Then it's probably a stray. Either way-'

'Don't tell.'

'Hrm?'

'Don't.... give her 'way.'

'Oh no, I won't. I love animals. Everyone in the house does. But you know you don't have to hide her, right? No one has the strength to say no to you, you've got like the biggest puppy eyes ever.'

'No risk.'

'Hmm. Who you worried about?'

'Baba...'

'Oh yeah. Yeah, B's never been keen on pets. Smart choice.'

'Damian?'

'Dude loves animals. He's a big softie for them. No need to worry. Tim doesn't live here long enough to actually be effected by her. And he _loves_ pissing people off so that works.'

'And... Alfred?'

'Honestly, no clue how'd he react. Might be smart keeping her a secret till we've won the others over.'

'So...kitty stays?'

Jason smiled, nuzzling into the head of the purring kitten. 'She stays. And I'll help you hide her.'

Talon smiled, a genuine smile, his heart feeling lighter then it had in a while. His return to the manor had been confusing, full of strange objects and rituals and traditions, he never understood how things are suppose to work. He had messed up a lot, what with not understanding how to preserve foods and destroying personal items of his family and even though Kitty was a good friend, hiding her made him very anxious.

It would be nice to have someone on his side. And Jason was fun and perhaps the easiest to get along with. This....

This might actually be fun.

For him. Jason was definitely going to be stressed as hell from now on.

•

'Dick.' Jason hissed under his breath, staring up at the tree where Dick had curled up with kitty. Talon glared down at him but refused to move. 'Get down from there!'

Talon cocked his head and raising an unimpressed brow down at his hoodie, where Kitty's head was smudged against his collarbone, fast asleep.

'You'll fall! The branch is wet, how'd you even manage to climb the tree when it's that wet?'

He shrugged, cuddling kitty closer. He couldn't have left kitty up here all alone, it was wet and damp and she might have hurt herself.

'Jesus chri- are you just going to stay up there until she wakes up?'

Talon nodded, leaning against the uncomfortable wooden nook and pulling his legs up to his chest so that the canopy of leaves would shield him completely from view. He was completely comfortable, thank you very much.

'Fine, stay there. I'll be right back.' 

Talon glanced back at the grassy field in confusion to see his brother had already left and he would be more concerned if Kitty didn't just yawn adorably. His eyes crinkled and he squeezed her, feeling a weird urge to squeeze the living life out of her, she was just so cute!

He swayed her curled up body gently until voices carried over to him. Talon gasped and tried to turn around when he recognized Tim's voice. 

Jason had ratted him out! They were going to take Kitty away-'

The branch shook with his weight as he tried to shuffle around, only to freeze when Jason yelled from below. 'Dick! Are you crazy?!? Stop moving around, the branch will break, it's already wet from the storm!'

'Told Tim!' he glared at his brother from above, snuggling kitty as close as he could without waking her up. He couldn't believe that Jason had ratted him out, he had _trusted_ him!

'Hey, what's so bad about telling me?' Tim asked indignantly, ruffling his damp hair, clearly fresh out of the shower. 'And besides I had my suspicions. Also, cute cat.'

'Kitty.' Talon corrected, sending him a half hearted glare. _Cat_ sounded so boring, kitty was much cuter and that was his name!

'That's a cat, baby bird. Kittens are much younger. It's like how Damian's an asshole of a man and you're a midget because you're tiny as hell.'

'Midget?'

'Don't ask.' Jason interrupted. 'And Tim, I didn't call you here to give him lessons. Can you get him down or not?'

Tim groaned and stretched his arms over his head. 'I just showered....'

'Tim!'

'Jesus christ, fine. You owe me your share of Alfred's brownies.' the man grumbled, pulling off his leather jacket and dropping it on Jason's head, despite his protests. He paused when Talon pressed into the tree and protested. 'What?'

'Kitty's sleeping.'

'I see that. I won't wake her up.' Tim promised, rolling his shoulders back and beginning his ascend up the tree. Talon watched him warily, knowing well enough that Tim would never hurt him, despite his rough exterior. Sure enough, the man was soon hanging from the upper branch, staring levelly at Talon, his eyes softening at the dusty brown cat.

'Cute cat.'

'Kitty.'

'Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get down.'

He looked around and raised a brow, silently asking _how?_

'I'll carry you. Hold the kitty close.' He swung his leg up to prop it against the branch Talon was perched on and grimaced as it shook. 'Wow, this branch is not sturdy at all. Come on, let's get going before it tumbles.' 

He held out one arm and Talon leant forward, gripping kitty close and staring at her scrunched up nose and tiny teeth to reassure himself, not overly fond of this idea. Tim's strong sturdy arm wrapped around his waist and tugged him close, his arm shaking with the effort of holding all three of them up. Talon shuffled around do as not to squish kitty against their chests.

'Oomph. Hey kid, I haven't really thought this plan through very well so try to keep the movements to a minimum.'

Talon huffed and laid his cheek on Tim's shoulder. 'Kitty stays?'

'Hrm?' Tim asked distractedly, looking around to see where to next place his foot. 'Yeah, course kitty stays. Why would I get rid of her? I love animals. Now shush, I'm concentrating so that we both don't fall to our death and crack our skulls open.'

'Um...'

'Ssh.'

'Don't fall.' Jason called frantically and Tim rolled his eyes as he let go of the branch to fall a few inches, just to grab onto another branch. He chuckled at Jason's surprised yell and looked over his shoulders to laugh at his brother.

'Nerd.'

'Ass.' Jason grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the branch as Tim climbed the rest of the way down, hopping on to the wet grass and causing his shoes to _squelch_ as they connected. He dropped Talon back on the ground, ruffling his hair as he frantically checked kitty to make sure she was okay. He sighed in relief as the feline cracked one eye open to half heartedly glare at them before yawning and going back to sleep.

'Well, this was a fun revelation but I unfortunately need to shower again and you're dirty as fuck too, kid. So, put the kitten down and let's go take a shower-'

'No!' Dick hissed vehenemously, gripping his friend close and causing her to mewl in discomfort. 'Kitty stays!'

'Dick-'

'She stays!'

'....you know, I think I liked you a lot better when you were mute and too afraid to argue with us.'

_'Tim!'_

'I'm just saying!'

•

Damian stared down at the feline cat that had taken his _favourite_ spot in the living room and was staring at him daringly, as if mocking him. She definitely knew that he would never tell Richard off or do anything to upset him and Drake and Todd had made it clear that the boy was _very_ attached to the animal, so showing it off would upset him.

Which might be why father was yet to comment on the whole situation. He was still staring at the duo as if they were a pair of aliens. 

Richard, in turn, was stroking the top of the kitty's head from where he was perched on the chair's arm rest, a rare red glow darkening his pale skin. Damian noticed that the blush made his black veins stand out even more. 

Todd and Drake were stood in the doorway, muffling their laughs as they watched the peculiar scene. They stared back defensively as Damian turned to glare at him.

Stupid brothers who gang up together to hold out odd shenanigans. He kinda missed when the two were always at each other's throats.

'Dick.' Father finally began, his voice strained and exhausted. 'Dick, you cannot keep the cat here as a pet.'

'But-' the boy began, his lip wobbling and yellow eyes looking weirdly innocent as he picked the creature up and held her close. In return, she didn't seem to appreciate being picked up and shuffled and slid down as if to escape but Richard only tightened his arms around her so that her front legs and head was the only thing above Dick's arms. The rest of her body was hanging low. '- she's my friend.'

'She's a _cat!_ And pets are hard to take care of-'

'A month!'

'What?'

'I assume you're trying to communicate that he's been taking care of her for a month, Father.'

_'A month?'_

Dick nodded, looking smug as he nuzzles his nose into his head. 'My baby.'

'Damian, did you know?'

'I suspected-'

Jason snorted from his place at the doorway and shook his head. 'There is no way you knew. You're just saying that now because you're embarrassed the kid managed to hide this under your nose for so long-'

'Listen you little-'

'Boys!' Father interrupted, sending a half hearted glare at them. 'Not now. Dick, is this why your bedside table was full of milk?'

'Mhm.'

'....and why you put fish in the pool?'

'Sorry....'

He sighed in exhaustion, plopping down on the couch and putting his hands in his head. His exhaustion would be funnier if Damian himself wasn't feeling the same exasperation. Dick, however, stepped up to Damian and turned his pleading eyes up to his oldest brother. 'Keep her?'

 _'Can we_ keep her?' Damian corrected, instead of choosing to answer. 'I don't think we should...'

'Oh, come on.' Tim interjected, taking the child's side, half out of loyalty and half out of pettiness. 'The kid's attached to her and she's definitely helped him improve. You gotta admit, he's made a lot of progress in the last month since he got the cat compared to the last five months.'

'He's not ready to take care of a cat!' 

'Am too!' The boy interjected stubbornly, adjusting his grip on his kitty. 'Baba, please?'

'Dick...'

 _'Please?'_

To Damian's amusement, even the _cat_ seemed to be giving puppy eyes to the man. 

'Come on B, we've been asking for a pet _forever._ And the cat's been here for a month, are you really going to throw her out now? She's just as attached to Dick as he is to her!'

'She can be placed in an animal shelter.'

'But she's mine!' Dick interrupted, shaking his head as the kitten reached up a paw to tap his nose. 

'Chum....'

'We can help take care of her, father.' Damian sighed, ignoring his other brothers gaping mouth. 'It might be a good training strategy...'

'How the fuck would-'

'Teaching responsibilities. Leave it at that.' 

'Yes! Baba, please!' 

Damian could tell that Bruce was trying his hardest to keep his strict facade on but his resolve was crumbling at the baby's puppy eyes. Sure enough, twenty five seconds later, he was sighing in defeat and sagging against his chair. 

'Fine. Fine, she can stay. But she has to get vaccinated and you will have to actually take responsibility for her. Proper feeding bowls and litter boxes. Wait...wait, where has she been going until now?'

'....Don't know.'

'Dick!'

'Guest bathroom.'

'Oh Jesus christ.' Bruce groaned, scrubbing at his eyes. 

'Can't believe Dick gets a pet just like that while Damian and I have been begging for pets for god knows how long.' Jason grumbled but he quickly smoothed his face when Dick grinned at him. 'Good for you though, bud.' 

'Thanks!' he dropped kitty, seemingly relaxed now that he was sure kitty was not going to be sent away. He surged forward to hug his father, squishing his cheek against his face. 'Thank you baba!'

'You're welcome.' the man sighed gruffly, patting his youngest's back. 

'Great! We have a cat! What you going to name it?' Jason asked eagerly, grinning from face to face. 'How about Nakatomi?'

'That building from Die hard? That's a stupid name. Name her flora.'

'That is an idiotic name for a kitten. She needs a more diverse name-'

'Her name is kitty.' Dick interjected, shuffling around so that he could flop on to his father's lap. 'Kitty or kitten.'

'That's not a name, bud. That's her species. A pet needs a name, and it should either be funny or sentimental.' Tim announced, looking down the hallway where the new member of the family was balancing on the hollister. 'Her name should have a special connection to you or something-'

'Ooh! Alfred!'

'Um....sorry?'

'Alfred the kitten!' he exclaimed excitedly and Alfred, who was folding clothes on the side, raised an amused brow. Damian groaned and Jason snorted under his breath. 'Dick, you can't name your pet after a family member.'

'But special!'

'Yes, Alfred is special. But no, that's weird-'

'I do not mind, sir. Quite honoured actually.'

'So....we have a butler named Alfred and a cat named Alfred?'

'Seems so.' Damian sighed.

He didn't understand this family sometimes. Especially not his youngest brother. But...anything to make the boy happy, he suppose.

Dick grinned and cheerfully announced, 'Talon's friend stays'

'Dick.' five strict voices immediately rebutted, correcting the boy in how he referred to himself. The boy startled before giving a sheepish smile.

'Sorry. _Dick's_ friend stays.'

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this came from but I wanted to write another Talon story with the brothers so here it is. 
> 
> This is in no way connected to my other story of 'One of us', it's a stand alone fic.


End file.
